We have a parked 2003 Montana 3670RL and it has been parked for over a year and the slides were probably never brought in. Last week I tried them to see if they would come in and they did. Today I tried to bring them in and the two big ones came in but the bedroom didn't. I read that I need to check the hydraulic fluid level but it says to check it with the slides in. If I push from the outside could I get the slide to go in? The bedroom slide acts like it will come in and then just stops and I can hear like a bumping noise from the pump running. Would the fact that the bedroom slide is higher than the others be an indication that the hydraulic fluid might be low?
You might also check the auto-reset breaker that feeds the hydraulic pump. The cheap breakers tend to fail, and we had issues with ours connected to the system. On the newer rigs, the cable to the pump from the batteries is #4 strand copper and the remedy is replacing the 40 or 50 amp breaker with an 80 amp breaker. If you have already brought in a couple of slides, then there will be additional fluid in the reservoir. This photo is where the breakers are at on our rig, near the bottom of the photo, and the left one with the cable curving up to the pump motor is the one to check. They are covered with the red protectors. The second photo is what the breaker looks like.
__________________
Bob & Becky
2012 3402RL
2012 Chevy 2500HD D/A CC 4WD
I believe your slides are all hydraulic. The bedroom slide should open and close first since it is the lightest. Either something mechanical is preventing it from moving or there is a hydraulic issue. Bad cylinder/line leak etc. I would raise the bed and remove the plywood under there to expose the inner workings of the slide mechanism to see if you can find the issue. The steel is bolted to the exterior wall of the slide. Maybe it has pulled off and is no longer bolted to the wall. Its a pretty simple system with one set of square tubes that slide into a larger set of tubes. The tubes that are bolted to the wall, slide inside the tubes that are bolted to the bedroom floor.
__________________
2018 Chevy 3500 LTZ Dually Diesel 4x4 CCLB
2011 Montana 3455 SA. 6 point level up. Disc brakes. Curt Q24 Hitch. 5 step glow steps
Progressive EMS. Valterra tank valves. Sailun G637 tires. ARP fridge control. All led lighting. Mor Ryde IS
I only moved the slides once before and the bedroom slide was the first to come in. I can hear what sounds like the pump running when I press the switch after the two big slides are in. I sprayed slide lubricant on the two big exposed slides but of course I didnt spray the bedroom slide. I'll be by Monty again this weekend and will open up the bed and see what it looks like. Has anybody heard of the hydraulics pulling loose from the slide?
Yup, that is exactly what mine looks like. If you get a light and shine it in towards the slide exterior wall you will see where it is bolted to the wall. With the bed up and nothing in the way you will be able to move the slide in and out and see how it works.
__________________
2018 Chevy 3500 LTZ Dually Diesel 4x4 CCLB
2011 Montana 3455 SA. 6 point level up. Disc brakes. Curt Q24 Hitch. 5 step glow steps
Progressive EMS. Valterra tank valves. Sailun G637 tires. ARP fridge control. All led lighting. Mor Ryde IS
Took advice and removed the plywood under the mattress. It was obvious right away there was water getting under the Eternabond tape on the top outside edge of the slide. The tape was laying flat but could be picked up with a finger sliding under it. I didn't think I had to go around and try to lift up all the tape. I even paid for an exterior inspection and they said it all looked good. Anyway the water was trapped in the botton of the slide by a plastic sheet that is glued to the bottom. So the water rotted the wood in that area and the angle iron that attaches the hydraulic ram to the bottom of the slide ripped out. I can't see any way the seller would have been aware of this situation. Anyway with limited tools and supplies I patched it together as best as I could. The first picture is what I found when I first opened it up. The second picture is my mess after removing the rotton plywood. (I kinda put a couple of water escape holes in the plastic bottom.) The third picture is my replacement plywood with the angle iron bolted to it ready to go back into the slide bottom. The final picture is how I attached the new plywood to the wood side rails of the slide. All the bottom screws and lag bolts had to only be 3/4" so that they wouldn't go through the bottom. The slide seems to work. I did notice that the way they had it set up the slide was all the way in before the ram bottomed out by a couple of inches. So the bedroom slide had to keep pulling on the plywood attachment points while the other two bigger slides came in. I adjusted the ram so that it bottoms out when the slide is all the way in so that it won't be pulling on my repair any more than necessary. Check your tape my friends.
Even with the tape issue you found, I would not think that water would have migrated down to the slide floor without doing serious wall damage. I suspect the bottom 4" outside trim and corner pieces are not sealed up properly. I would take off the 2 bottom corners and the bottom trim and reinstall making sure it is sealed up well.
__________________
2018 Chevy 3500 LTZ Dually Diesel 4x4 CCLB
2011 Montana 3455 SA. 6 point level up. Disc brakes. Curt Q24 Hitch. 5 step glow steps
Progressive EMS. Valterra tank valves. Sailun G637 tires. ARP fridge control. All led lighting. Mor Ryde IS
I'm new to this stuff so this might seem like a newbee question (because it is) What holds the corners and bottom trim? Is it exposed screws? After taking them off and cleaning everything up what would be the best way to seal them up? I truly appreciate the advice I get here. I gotta admit i envisioned this camper stuff as sitting under a shade tree with one of those fancy drinks with the little umbrella. Maybe someday.
Billhorn, The trim I am talking about is on the exterior of the bedroom slide (at the bottom). There is a square corner piece screwed on each side. The bottom trim piece goes from front to back and has 3 or so screws in the face of it and a bunch up from the bottom. What happens is water rolls down the face of the slide and penetrates between the bottom trim piece and the slide wall and gets trapped in there rotting the slide floor. These trim pieces need to be removed and caulked in place upon reinstallation.
__________________
2018 Chevy 3500 LTZ Dually Diesel 4x4 CCLB
2011 Montana 3455 SA. 6 point level up. Disc brakes. Curt Q24 Hitch. 5 step glow steps
Progressive EMS. Valterra tank valves. Sailun G637 tires. ARP fridge control. All led lighting. Mor Ryde IS
I will check out the trim pieces the next time I can get out to where she is parked. All that stuff looked to be tight and sealed but now that I know what to look for I'll take another educated look. Does anybody think the moisture could be from condensation. That outside bedroom slide wall is at the high point of the camper. The way it is designed a drop of water that somehow got between the wall layers would go to the bottom and be trapped. All the water damage is concentrated along the outside wall line. The bottom of the slide is a piece of 3/4" plywood with a decorative plastic sheet glued to the bottom of the plywood sealing off any escape route for any moisture.
Although none of the slide systems are perfect, the unit I have now is my 3rd one and all of the slides have been hydraulic. I have had no issues with any of them.
I have however read countless post on issues with cable slides. Broken cables/ frayed cables/ brackets pulling away from walls/ bad motors/ broken chains/ chains that jumped off the pulley/ bad gear boxes and the latest one is the best of all. On a lot of newer high country's, the gear boxes are leaking onto the slide roofs and eating the rubber roofs. The manufacture's fix is apparently to install drip pans under the gear boxes to catch the leaking grease and slap a half ass patch on the slide roofs. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME !!!
With all that being said, I will keep my 4 all hydraulic slide unit. I want nothing to do with the other systems. IMHO they are junk
__________________
2018 Chevy 3500 LTZ Dually Diesel 4x4 CCLB
2011 Montana 3455 SA. 6 point level up. Disc brakes. Curt Q24 Hitch. 5 step glow steps
Progressive EMS. Valterra tank valves. Sailun G637 tires. ARP fridge control. All led lighting. Mor Ryde IS
Every system has problems. Neighbor told me in an SOB had a hose blow out on his cylinder for the bedroom slide, Oil everywhere ruined the carpet and had to replace the whole bed frame. Need i say more. I think i will take a broken cable.
__________________
2017, 3500 Ram Big Horn, 4x4, Crew Cab, DRW, Aisin Transmission, 4:10. Curt Q20, 2014 Mountaineer 331 RLT, Sailun's on the rv and truck.
Would this particular problem (water leak caused) have been prevented if slides were not left in out position for long period?
Generally, my unit is always stored all closed up until ready to load it up for a trip. That way if i do have a slide issue not opening, or any other issue I can't fix myself, I can haul it to be serviced.
I did have a situation when getting ready to leave campsite where slide would not close. A remote service tech helped me push it in, so I could take it to be fixed.
__________________
2015 Montana High Country 293RK.
2017 Chevy High Country 3500 SRW 4WD long bed diesel.
I like the powerful Hydraulic slide outs on my 05 3670. Also enjoy Slide Toppers to prevent any major water intrusion. Have had to replace the Toppers once so far. The main awning is now the Third one!